UNDT/2020/019, Dufresne
UNAT Held or UNDT Pronouncements
The application is not receivable. The management evaluation request was not receivable because the Applicant did not file a timely request for management evaluation of the contested decision.
Decision Contested or Judgment/Order Appealed
Decision not to allow the Applicant to make retroactive pension contributions for the period of her Special Leave Without Pay.
Legal Principle(s)
The Dispute Tribunal has the inherent power to individualize and define the administrative decision challenged by a party and to identify the subject(s) of judicial review. The statutory burden is placed upon an applicant to establish that the administrative decision in issue was in non-compliance with the terms of his or her appointment or contract of employment. Such a burden cannot be met where the applicant fails to identify an administrative decision capable of being reviewed, that is, a specific decision which has a direct and adverse impact on the applicant’s contractual rights. The Management Evaluation Unit’s determination is not an administrative decision subject to judicial review by the Dispute Tribunal. Rather, the judicially reviewable administrative decision is the underlying decision that is alleged to be in non-compliance with the terms of appointment or the contract of employment of the staff member. The administrative decision must have a direct impact on the terms of appointment or contract of employment of the individual staff member. The determination of the date of such an administrative decision, is based on objective elements that both parties (Administration and staff member) can accurately determine. An applicant “may not unilaterally determine the date of the administrative decision by sending an [email] to the Administration expressing an ultimatum to adopt a decision. The reiteration of an original administrative decision, if repeatedly questioned by a staff member, does not reset the clock with respect to statutory timelines rather time starts to run from the date on which the original decision was made.